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You can buy with PayPal by using the “Add to Cart” buttons. Downloads at CDBABY

The products are also available online at: Holvi. The score “Aino” is now available in Holvi, as well.

In Visible Vibration – A Guidebook for the 11-String Kantele

In Visible Vibration – A Guidebook for the 11-string kantele (in English). The instructions can easily be applied to the 10–15 -string kanteles as well. The first part introduces tuning, different scales and diverse playing techniques with the help of colour images. The songs contain both traditional tunes from Finland and other European countries, and also Finnish contemporary music for kantele. In the end there is a separate part for early-childhood educators. The main goal is to encourage players to use improvisation and variation. Size A4, 56 pages. Price 19,00 € (incl. VAT 10% and postal charges). The album The Last Gathering comes with this guidebook for free!

Emanuel

The fift solo-album by Arja Kastinen (TEMPSCD05, Temps Oy 2016) is a journey into the complex world of room acoustics and resonance. The music was recorded at the Emanuel Vigeland mausoleum in Oslo, Norway. All music by Arja, 11 tracks, total length ca 52 min. Recording: Taito Hoffrén. Graphic design: Tero Vesterinen. Photos: Elis Ribeirete. 15,00 € (incl. postal charges).

As making our part of diminishing the use of unnecessary plastic the TEMPSCDs have no plastic packaging.

The Last Gathering

Arja’s fourth solo album (2012). 15,00 € (incl. VAT 24%). When buying the 11-string kantele guidebook, In Visible Vibration, this cd comes for free! Listen to The Last Gathering.

“By now, Kastinen is probably one of the best known Kantele players worldwide. She is a real master on this string instrument from Finland and with this new solo album she shows exactly why. Somehow this new album has a more powerful and mystic character than her last one. It’s amazing how many sounds, rhythms, styles and emotions Kastinen gets out of this ancient instrument. Her eleven new compositions bewitch the listener and change from calm, almost like instrumental lullaby’s, to more innovative, modern sounding and complex compositions. With passion Kastinen plays her several types of Kantele and is the best ambassador an instrument can wish for.” – Eelco Schilder, Folkworld #48, 07/2012.

“Arja Kastinen is an artist that has mastered the many faces of the kantele. Beyond the normal plucking, she has embraced improvisation and created a layered sound experience that will take you away from the stresses of the everyday world into a place of myth and magic. The Last Gathering is a painting of rich audible colors that will enrapture you with the depth of sound and harmonics.” Dana Wright, Muzik Reviews, Dec 2012

Vaskikantele 1833

Arja’s third solo album (Aania-6, 2008), played on the replica made by Rauno Nieminen. 15,00 € (incl. VAT 24%).

The original 5-string kantele was made by a famous runo singer, Ontrei Malinen, in Vuonninen, Viena Karelia. In 1833 Elias Lönnrot traveled to Viena Karelia where he met Ontrei Malinen (1781–1856), who was in his opinion the best singer of his time. The year 1833 is also carved on the short side of the kantele. The solid piece of pinewood is hollowed out from below. The kantele is fairly big and heavy, weighing 782 g. (The replica is made of heat treated wood and so not quite as heavy). The bronze strings currently on the museum kantele are not original, but it is very probable that the strings were bronze or brass in the first place, so bronze strings were also fitted to the replica. The timber is warm and rich, the vibration of the strings last long, and it is easy to feel the resonance in the body of the instrument. As common with the bronze string kanteles, this instrument is tuned about a fifth lower than modern 5-string kanteles usually are. The booklet contains information also in English. This CD was ranked as one of the “delightful dozen”, a list of favorite cds for 2008 on the radio program Nordic Roots and Branches KSER hosted by Karen Pauley (WA, USA).

“Drawing Down The Moon” is the opening track on the album. Opening with the kantele, the plucking sensation eases you into a sensation of contentment as Phippen begins to lightly play his flute. Seducing you into the twilight darkness, Phippen and Kastinen invoke magic as their combined instruments fuse together into a singular sensation of tranquility. If you are looking for a moment of peace and an escape from a hectic day, pour yourself a cup of tea and put on this album. Close your eyes, lay back and just listen. – Dana Wright, Muzik Reviews

Tune-a-Day – Wilho Saari

Wilho Saari: “Tune-a-Day, Compositions for the 36-, 10- and 5-string kanteles” (ed. by A. Kastinen). Texts both in English and in Finnish. Size A4, 264 pages, 365 tunes. Price 29,00 € (incl. VAT 10%) + postal charges 4,00€. In the USA the book can be ordered directly from Wilho Saari: kantele@wwest.net

Wilho Saari, a fifth-generation kantele player down from the famous Finnish kantele icon Kreeta Haapasalo, is the leading tradition bearer of kantele in the United States. He continues the creative kantele tradition reaching beyond generations by making music about events in his everyday life. The tune number 2000 was done in May 20, 2009, and since that the number 3000 has already been created! This collection contains 365 tunes composed during 1988-2010 (276 tunes for the 36-string kantele, 63 tunes for the 10-string kantele, 21 tunes for the 5-string kantele). Four of the tunes are arranged by Arja Kastinen for a kantele group Livakat and one of the tunes is a choral arrangement by Denise Reed-Hinds.

KIZAVIRZI karjalaisesta kanteleperinteestä 1900-luvun alussa

A book (in Finnish) about the Karelian kantele tradition at the beginning of the 20th century written by three scholars: Anna-Liisa Tenhunen (Ph.D.), Arja Kastinen (D.Mus.) and Rauno Nieminen (D.Mus.). Anna-Liisa collected the details about the players and their lives, Arja wrote new music notations from the manuscripts and Rauno took photos and made precise measurements of 23 museum instruments. Size A4, 391 pages. 34,00 € (incl. VAT 10%) + postal charge 6 €. The buyers of this book will receive the book Taivas auki (in Finnish) for free!

Taivas auki

The book (in Finnish) about the 19th century kantele manuscripts from Karelia and Eastern Finland (Temps Oy, 2009) 25,00 € (incl. VAT 10%). 61 pages. Additional CD containing some of the tunes played by Arja Kastinen. Also a map of the area, where the tunes were collected from, is incuded. The front cover image is from Sipa Ylhäinen’s painting.